The Dragons' Roar
by Huang the Scholar
Summary: Two people from our world in 2015, live less than average lives. Gifted with magic, yet burdened by their inability to use it in everyday life. This all changes one day, when their familiars help them to enter a world where magic is freely accepted. The only problem? Neuroi, and lots of them. Join them, as they uncover secrets about both themselves, and the Neuroi.
1. Prologue

Prologue

_Ryuu's P.O.V._

"I'm home!" That phrase. Every day, without fail, I'll say that phrase. And the reply?

"Welcome home bro!" My sister will always give me that reply, without fail. Now don't get me wrong, I do enjoy my life. I'm well fed, well equipped and I have a lot of friends. My sister Mei and I get on really well, we're basically inseparable at home, but still. It feels like my life is going nowhere. Do you ever get that feeling? That your life will happen and at the end of it, you really didn't do anything of consequence? I hate it. Well, I'd better introduce myself.

Hi, my name is Ryuu Sato, brother of Mei Sato. I'm 18 years old, nearing graduation and looking pretty good. Straight As across the board, I do relatively well in school and I don't lack physically either, being relatively good with a sword and a staff, just don't ever give me an axe. I have a personal weapon which I practice with, my Niuweidao (special Chinese sword) Yama, but I digress. I'm a decent shot, nothing special on that front. I have relatively long black hair, which entirely covers one of my eyes and partly covers the other. I can still see through it, though I'll save the reason for later. I'm relatively tall, and not particularly visibly ripped, although I can easily toss around people several times my weight. I have onyx eyes, and I'm usually relatively cool, calm and collected, and I always have all my stuff in order. Also, I play the piano and the violin, and I love both.

My sister is Mei is 16 years old, also pretty good at school academically and prefers to spar with me with her katana Hono. She is a crack shot, whenever we go shooting she makes me look stupid and she's quite an excitable girl. She has somewhat of a lazy streak, and I always end up caring for her and looking after her, even though we can both cook. She has long, dark hair and a rather slim figure, despite her strength. She has quite the pair of melons, and I end up getting protective whenever we go out into town. What? I'm allowed to protect my little sis right? She has onyx eyes, same as me but is a lot more impulsive and reckless than me. She is also a musician, playing the piano and singing, and she loves to sing.

Anyways, you know how I said I can see through my hair? Well, turns out both me and Mei are a little different. We can both do magic! Shame no-one else can, 'cause we can't show it to anyone, especially our familiars. Oh yeah, you don't know what they are. They're like spirits, we can talk to them and they lend us their power so we can do magic. Mine is the Earth Dragon Shi, she lets me do Jishin (Earthquake) and Sunaarashi (Sandstorm), as well as giving me super strength. Mei's familiar is the fire dragon Ignis, she lets her use Hi (Fire), as well as super strength. Both of us can use super strength as well as heighten our senses without showing our familiar features, basically in my case growing a giant spiny, clubbed tail and scaly ridges on my head, and in Mei's case growing a scaly red tail with two pointy red ears.

It sucks being a witch and wizard, it really does. Especially since our mother and father both died as a result. Neither I nor Mei dwell on it, but if someone tries to bully us about it… the last person was hospitalized. Oh well, time to carry on the standard ritual. Walking into the living room, I looked over at Mei.

"Being lazy again?" I asked smirking. She pouted.

"Nothing to do anyways, I'm so bored!" I guess that's true. I mean, we have basically nothing to do when we're at home. Both of us are abnormally smart for our age, and we rarely end up doing anything except from quizzing each other, playing strategy games (we always win, hehe) and sparring. And we always end up destroying something when sparring, so we don't do that anymore.

_'Oi Ryuu!'_ I cringed at the loud voice in my head.

_'Terra, not now.'_ I tried to ignore her but her whining quickly got me ticked off, causing a little tremor to pass through the house.

_'Finally.'_

_'I swear if this isn't a good reason-'_ I didn't have a chance to finish my sentence, as a blinding light enveloped me and Mei.

When I finally came to, I found myself in Terra's domain again, a craggy cliff-face looking upon a large mass of swirling lava and crashing tectonic plates. I sighed before turning around at the dragon, the earth itself trembling.

"What the actual fuck Terra? Why'd you pull me out here!?"

"Oh calm down, Ignis did the same to Mei."

"Doesn't excuse you two you know!" I was furious at having this happen. Last time I went missing for a whole week. Do you know how hard to explain that is?!

"We pulled you out of there because you do not belong in that world." I blinked. Wha..?

"Not in that world?"

"Yes, you have magic, right?" I pondered the thought for a second, before it hit me.

"Oh! Magic exists in another world where we would be better accepted!" Terra blinked, before chuckling.

"Your quick mind surprises me again, yes indeed. However, two things."

"Shoot."

"Really?"

"Hey, I've got nothing to lose and I'm sure my sister will also accept."

"Hehe, very well. The first is you will stay here for two months to train."

"Acceptable, although having the two of you as our familiars, I doubt we count as weak."

"Indeed, the second is that the world you are heading to is at war." I raised an eyebrow.

"Elaborate."

"No reaction? My, your calm demeanour surprises me sometimes. Well, the world is at war with aliens called Neuroi, which shoot lasers."

"Okay, so we shield their lasers, so what?" I asked. Hey, it's not my fault these things are so damn obvious you know.

"Precisely, but the machines you'll be using to fight are these. Striker units." As she said that, Mei appeared next to me, along with a bunch of these 'striker units.'

The first two were obvious derivatives of existing Chinese weapons systems. The first was the Type 99 Main Battle Tank, armed with a paired up 125mm smoothbore cannon and 7.62mm co-axial machinegun, equipped with AP-T rounds. There was a handheld 12.7mm machinegun also in place next to what was obviously the main unit. A suit of armour composed of a chestplate, pauldrons, shoulder guard and knee guard, all in sleek and shiny dark green and sandy yellow. There were also a pair of leg units, each with a pair of tracks up the side, like Code Geass Landspinners. There was also a derivative of the Shenyang J-31 Gyrfalcon, composed of a wingpack with three pylons and two internal weapon bays at the back, a pair of leg units with jet nozzles coming out of the end and two air intakes extending just beyond the end of the top of the unit. There were a pair of rudders and elevators extending from both leg units, and the wingpack was a triangle shape. A GSh-30-1 cannon rested just next to it, being held up on a clamp.

The next one pair were a Russian fighter derivative and a Korean tank derivate. The tank was the K2 Black Panther, armed with a 120mm Rheinmetall L/55 cannon and a 7.62mm co-axial machinegun with AP-T rounds. In addition, there was also a 12.7mm K6 HMG for handheld combat. The armour was composed of the leg units, like the one on the Type 99, and a similar slew of additional pieces, the breastplate, pauldrons, shoulder guard and knee guards. The armour was a combination of dark green and brown. The aircraft was the Su-47 Berkut, or Firkin. There were the pair of leg units with jet nozzles, but unlike the J-31, the intakes did not extend over the top. In addition, the wingpack was not a simple triangle, but a pair of forwards swept wings. There were four pylons a wing, and four on the wingpack itself. There were also a pair of missile housings on the wingtip.

Alongside all this, there was a helmet on both stands, which also had a visor. The visor was lit up with a HUD, displaying speed, magic usage, and weapon state. There was also engine heat, and on the Su-47, also wing integrity and thrust vector status. Looking at the equipment, Mei and Ryuu both raised an eyebrow.

"These are the striker units, and are the main form of weaponry in the universe you're headed to. You'll have two month of training here, then you'll be headed to a base in the universe. You'll have to explain and see what happens," Shi explained. Both Mei and Ryuu grinned.

"Sounds like fun, we're in!"


	2. Chapter 1-Don't shoot!

Chapter 1-Don't shoot!

**Thank you very much for you various responses to my story, as my first fanfiction I wanted to make a good start. I guess I should answer some questions and make some things clear:**

_The Fox God:_ **There are going to be land Neuroi: Turtles and other elites that I will mention later on. Also, thanks for the comment about the Neuroi shooting beams rather than lasers, I'll make sure to amend that in future chapters.**

**Ok, asides from that-Land Neuroi. Whilst the Turtles are going to be the back-bone of Neuroi land forces, they are going to have elite vehicles resembling tanks from 1945 onwards as their elites. The same goes for aircraft, these are also going to be distinguished by a lack of beam patches on the exterior of the Neuroi, rather there are going to be concentrations of firepower on the gun, machine-gun ports and also the rear of the turrets, to give them all around firepower. The aircraft are going to have their beam patches where weapons were on the original. Also, this fanfiction **_WILL NOT_ **completely follow the story, this is the story of Ryuu (along with others, heehee), not especially the Strike Witches, even if the Strike Witches will be heavily involved. Last but not least is names of companies and so on, for simplicity I will NOT rename manufacturers and I do apologize for any mistake there may be throughout, tell me and I will try to correct them. Also, thanks to majoramiruddin for allowing me to use his O.C.s!**

* * *

_Ryuu's P.O.V._

Well this is just brilliant. We've done our training, and our familiars decided to dump us off in a hangar in the South of-what was it, Britannia? God.

'_Could you not have done something else?'_ I asked Terra.

'_Familiars can't manifest bodies in worlds their master aren't in,'_ replied Terra. I sighed, before picking myself up along with my GSh-30-1. Oh yeah, quick note, our weapons use magic to reconstruct the ammo. The GSh-30-1 barely takes any energy, but remaking missiles takes a few minutes when under combat stress. Picking it up, I walked over to the stack of crates Mei was hiding behind.

"Yo bro, where are we?" asked Mei in a chipper voice, standing up with her GSh-30-1. I sighed.

"Somewhere in the South of Britannia, Dover I think," I responded. She looked around a little.

"Oh look, our strikers!" Mei ran off to where our strikers and launch units were.

'_Your doing I believe?'_ I asked Terra.

'_Heehee, yup.'_ Grinning slightly I ran up to them.

"Wahoo! At least we have something we know how to work with!" Mei yelled out loud. I nodded in approval. Then I heard footsteps. Aww crap!

"I heard something from in here!"

"Yeah, we should deal with it before Mio gets back." Two people at least, but a whole lot more footsteps. I heightened my senses, showing my familiar features. 9?

"Let's bust 'em!" Oh boy, this won't end well.

'_This is a base for witches, right?'_

'_Yeah… oh no.'_ I facepalmed.

"Mei, guns up! We've got company!" Acknowledging my command, she raised up her 30mm GSh-30-1. Suddenly, 9 people burst into the room. Seeing our weapons raised, they narrowed their eyes.

"Who are you?" asked a red-haired woman. I looked at my sister and she nodded.

"Mei and Ryuu Sato, you?"

"I see no reason for us to introduce ourselves," said a blonde haired girl, sneering. I rolled my eyes at her response.

"Why you… If it's a fight you want it's a fight you'll get!" yelled my sister, deploying her familiar. Sighing, I readied myself as well.

"I'll warn you once, start a fight and this base won't survive," I added.

"You..!" The brown haired one growled at me. I snarled back, causing Mei to launch herself at the girl. Mei ended up picking the girl up by her feet and tossing her all the way to the end of the runway in one swift move, before firing off a small burst of flames after her. Sighing, I walked up to her.

"Mei…"

"Yes?

"Overkill." She pouted before pointing at the girl.

"She started it!" I chopped her head, earning a yelp of pain.

"There wasn't any reason for you to go 50% on her you know." I turned back to see the rest of the group staring at us slack-jawed. I sighed, before walking up to them, garnering a lot of distrustful stares. "Ryuu Sato, elder brother of this little rascal here."

"Mei Sato, sorry 'bout that." The group visibly relaxed, save for the red haired girl and the blonde haired girl.

"Flight Lieutenant Charlotte E. Yeager, Shirley."

"Sergeant Lynette Bishop, pleased to meet you."

"Ensign Francesca Lucchini, ciao!"

"Flying Officer Erica Hartmann, I've never seen anyone throw Trudy that far before, that was awesome!"

"Ensign Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen, nice throw!"

"2nd Lieutenant Sanya *yawn* V. Litvyak. Sanyaaaa…" Then she promptly fell asleep in Eila's arms. Weird.

"And the two of you? I promise you we harbour no ill inte-" I was cut off mid-sentence by the sound of an air raid siren.

"Mio!" yelled the red head. I shook my head.

"An ally I presume?" She nodded cautiously. "Need help?"

"No thank you! We'll help the Major ourselves." I shook my head.

"Don't be pretentious, we'll help, that's what we're here for! Bro?" I nodded.

"Fine, no missiles this time, we shouldn't need them." I turned around and hopped into my striker. "And no going supersonic either!" I flared up the thrusters, and disengaged the locking clamps, ignoring the protests of the rest of what I presumed to be the 501st Terra told us about.

"Yo bro, I got one large Neuroi contact up ahead. It's tearing apart a fleet of vessels!" I cursed under my breath.

"Let off a pair of Adders Mei, we've gotta stall it."

"Roger." Two missiles ignited, reaching Mach 4 within seconds. The missile left a wispy smoke trail in its path, whilst the solid fuel booster gave off an otherworldly roar as it leapt towards its target.

* * *

_Mio's P.O.V._

"Miyafuji, watch out!" Damn this is bad! This is Miyafuji's first flight, I'm low on ammo and magic and the squadron isn't going to be here for a good ten minutes still. This is a do or die situation…

"Major, what do we do now?" Damn Miyafuji, if only I knew.

"Miyafuji, this'll be our last chance! 3 seconds, then follow me okay?" I asked, tentatively.

"Roger!" Brilliant, I hope this ends well. Giving a wave of my hand as a signal, I flipped over and began diving for the Neuroi, with my eye actively looking for the core. Within three seconds, Miyafuji followed, but…

"Ahh!" I knew it, she can't even get close.

"Stay away for now Miyafuji! I'll handle this!" Though I'm not quite sure how…

"_I hear you guys are in a pickle, need a hand?"_ What the..?

"Who is this, identify yourselves!" I yelled. Not that I didn't appreciate the help, but still.

"_Good to hear you're more accepting than some of your knuckleheaded subordinates. Ryuu Sato, reporting ma'am. You should notice a change in the Neuroi in three seconds."_ A change?

* * *

_Ryuu's P.O.V._

"One second to impact. Boom!" Mei narrated the path of the missiles through the HUD radios, sending me an up-to-date feed of the missiles' trajectories. Direct hit.

"_Sato?"_

"Yes ma'am?"

"_What the hell was that!?"_ I cringed at her loud voice, magically dampening the radio.

"Geez Major… ummm…"

"_Sakamoto."_ What an impatient woman…

"Major Sakamoto, with all due respect that Neuroi is still alive, and both you and the Sergeant over there are a little low on magic, experience, ammo or all three. We'll take over if you want." The line went quiet for a little, before she responded.

"_Ok then, it doesn't sound like you're bad people."_ I rolled my eyes at her comment, before turning to Mei.

"You know what to do?"

"Yup!" I grinned, before pulling my GSh-30-1 out of its holster on my back.

"Let's go!" I kicked in afterburners, making my speed leap to Mach 0.8 and my sister followed behind at a very good 900km/h.

It didn't take long for us to reach the fight, twenty seconds at most. I grimaced at the sight. One destroyer was hit and listing hard to port, and the rest of the fleet was scattering in every direction, sporadic fire failing horribly to even put the Neuroi on its toes. But the worst of the damage was on the Akagi itself, smoke trickling through the sky. And before anyone asks, remember the HUD? Yeah, that's how I knew it was the Akagi. Shaking my head, I held three fingers up to my sister, then pointed at the Neuroi with my pinky. It was a giant wing shape, with several laser patches dotted around. Easy.

"Bye bro!" Mei dove down under the Neuroi, before speeding towards it at near supersonic speed and jerking upwards in a high-G manoeuvre. In turn, I pulled up into a steep climb, trading most of my speed for altitude, before kicking my feet over my head and pushing straight down. I grinned, bringing up my cannon just as Mei brought up hers, and we executed a scissor manoeuvre, spraying the Neuroi from head to toe with Armour Piercing Incendiary Tracers (API-T) and poking holes through the Neuroi. Which didn't last very long as the Neuroi quickly regenerated its armour.

"Crap, Mei! Switch to HEI-T ammo!"

"On it!" The two of us zoomed past the Neuroi before I pulled an Immelmann and Mei spun around in a Chandelle, putting us right behind it. It didn't have time to react, as both my gun and Mei's roared into action, spitting out 30mm High Explosive Incendiary Tracers (HEI-T) at the Neuroi. Upon impact the rounds flared up, blasting chunks of armour away and we managed to hit the core after about 3 seconds of continuous fire. The Neuroi instantly began to crystallize, before shattering in a majestic display of fine white shards. I sighed in relief, before speaking into the radio again.

"Major, the Neuroi has been dispatched." I heard her hum in thought for a second, before she responded.

"_Excellent job Sato, but I couldn't help but notice that you're male?"_ I sighed.

"Do you have a base? I'll need to explain this to everyone in your unit."

"_Yes, back at Dover."_

"You wouldn't happen to know a-"

"_Major!"_ Oh mother of a dragon.

'_HEY!'_

"_Is that you Perrine?"_ Perrine huh?

'_Hey Terra, is that he pretentious Gallian noblewoman you were talking about?'_

'_None other.'_ That's not good. I looked over where the Major was and saw her holding the Sergeant. A girl around the age of 14. Well, I guess that Francesca Lucchini was younger, but I still can't get over the fact this world has pant-less girls aged 13-20 fighting aliens that shoot lasers.

"_Mio! Why are those two next to you?!"_ Oh great, her as well…

"_Calm down Minna, the two of them saved me and Miyafuji. They're our guests, at least for the time being."_ I could literally hear this 'Minna' fuming on the other side of the line.

"_Fine, at least until he explains why he can fly the striker unit and he's a boy. Not to mention the strikers the two of them are flying are really different from the ones we fly."_ Phew, at least we'll have a chance to explain without pounding them to pieces.

* * *

It took us only a few minutes to land at the base. As we did so, and docked at our advanced docking units, I noticed that our land strikers had been left untouched, albeit pushed aside slightly. I smiled at that, noting these people were not as bad as I may have originally thought them to be. I jumped down from my J-31s, and almost instantly noticed everyone crowding around Mei and myself. I sighed, knowing this was going to end up as some question and answer session no matter what. I turned to see Major Sakamoto and Sergeant Miyafuji both walking up to me, along with a mix of either very annoyed or very scared expressions. The first one to speak I recognised from earlier, the commanding officer-Minna was it?

"Ryuu Sato, correct?" she asked with a venomous tone.

"Correct. Minna was it?" I asked, not giving off any sort of emotion in my response. I could tell by a small flicker in her eyes that for a second, she was surprised.

"Explain yourself, and your sister. How did you get here?" I grimaced slightly hearing the question.

"Of course I will, but I think I would like everyone to hear this. No point repeating myself." Minna was positively fuming by this point, but managed to keep it bottled down. I smirked internally at how this conversation was riling her up.

"Ok then, I will call a general assembly, we need to introduce Sergeant Miyafuji anyways." She spun on her heel, before walking away. Sighing, I turned to Sakamoto.

"Major-"

"Sakamoto, or hell even Mio please. I think you've earned at least that honour with your fighting prowess."

"Mio then, what seems to be everyone's problem with me? They accepted Mei easily enough." Sakamoto pondered the thought for a second, before responding.

"We don't see many men at this base, and the thought of men with magic is unheard of." I groaned, realising that this was going to be a lot less simple than I had originally envisioned. Not only was I dealing with falling into their world from another dimension, but I was an anomaly, something that had not been seen before.

* * *

It didn't take long for the 501st to gather in the meeting room. Well, one uneventful night anyways, in which my sister and I just stayed in a guest room. Anyways, assorted in front of me were 9 people, all of different nationalities and backgrounds, and all eyeing me suspiciously. I sighed a little, before Miyafuji went up to introduce herself to the 501st.

"In case you haven't spoken to her yet," Minna started, "This is Sergeant Yoshika Miyafuji, our newest recruit. Major Sakamoto brought her from Fuso."

"Thank you for accepting me," she began courteously, "I look forwards to working with you in the future." She looked like a nice girl, a bit innocent to be on the front-lines of a war, but then again, this was a desperate world. I noticed Minna pull something onto the lectern, and I grimaced as I realised what it would be. A gun. My suspicions were confirmed when out from under the lectern she produced a Mauser C96, and proceeded to present it to Miyafuji. I watched her intently, as she first registered what it was, and then proceeded to push it back towards Minna in disgust.

"Sorry, but I won't be needing this." I raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, awaiting the reaction of the room. I could feel my sister gasp in shock, and the rest of the room reel in face of the news. One girl took it particularly badly.

"I've had it!" The blonde haired girl from earlier stood up, kicking aside her chair in anger. I raised an eyebrow at this, and was about to quiet her down, but Minna beat me to the chase.

"Hush for now Perrine, there is one more thing we need to do." She turned to me. "Please introduce yourselves." I walked up to the stage, my sister following closely behind. I could feel all the eyes in the room curiously, angrily or timidly following the pair of us as we walked up. I bowed in greeting and my sister followed.

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Ryuu Sato."

"Same here, my name is Mei Sato." I could feel the atmosphere in the room, it was still tense although one person relaxed. Strange, I wonder who that was.

"They will be staying with us for the time being. Please treat them accordingly." Huh, seems like Minna's lightened up a bit.

"Excuse me," the girl who Mei punched raised her hand, "But where did they come from? And how can the man use magic?" I groaned, before turning to Minna.

"Can I explain?" She nodded.

"Go on."

"Right, I'm going to go through everything, start to finish, and don't want any questions until the end. First off, the two of us shouldn't have magic at all, we come from a place where magic is non-existent. Yet here we stand, and with magic to boot. This is because we never belonged in that world, and though we may not fully belong here, at least we have a purpose. We want to help you defeat the Neuroi. Our familiars are powerful and ancient creatures, dragons, who have given us custom strikers to help us do so. So please, do not be afraid, we are only here to help." After I finished my explanation, I noticed that the entire room had visibly relaxed, including Minna. I turned around to face her, before holding out my right hand.

"Why?" asked Minna.

"To a prosperous relationship." Minna thought for a second, before grasping my hand with hers.

"Indeed." Suddenly, something popped into my mind.

"Hang on a second, aren't you guys military?" I asked Minna. Her eyes widened in realisation.

"Oh, how did I forget!?" I sighed slightly hearing her response.

"No biggy, tell them about us and the next time you go to see High Command, we can just tag along."

"Wouldn't there be problems for the time being?"

"I don't think so, we can just act as volunteers." Minna mulled this over for a second, before giving her response.

"Okay then, I think that'll work. Take the rest of the day to familiarise yourselves with the rest of the squadron, okay?" Both my sister and I nodded at that. Minna turned around again to face the squadron.

"That is all, you are dismissed!" The girls all saluted, leaving Minna to inspect them. Minna was obviously satisfied, as she walked off, probably to do some paperwork. I turned around to see my sister and Yoshika mixing up with the rest of the girls. Two of them walked up to me and I recognised them as the two Karslanders from earlier. That is the counterpart of Germany right? As the two approached, I snapped into a smart salute, surprising one of them and making the other groan slightly. I raised an eyebrow at this.

"Why the groan…" I thought for a second, "Flying Officer Hartmann?"

"Yeah, but you can just call me Erica," she replied. "And I groaned because seeing you means Trudy here will-"

"Why can't you be as ordered as him Erica?" asked the other girl. Trude?

"Excuse me, but what is your name?" I asked. Hang on, wasn't she…

"Captain Gertrude Barkhorn, you know, the girl who Mei tossed down a runway earlier?" I cringed slightly on the inside, but made sure to keep my calm composure.

"Sorry about that Captain Barkhorn, but she is very easily provoked."

"I noticed Ryuu, and I hope she won't do that again." After saying her piece, she swiftly turned around on her heel and left, leaving me alone with Hartmann.

"Man, what is up with her..?" I thought aloud, wondering why she was being so cold.

"You probably remind her a lot of herself back then," replied Erica.

"What do you mean Flying Officer?"

"Please, just Erica. And I mean that she also has a little sister, but her little sister was badly wounded by Neuroi during the evacuation of Karsland, and she's been beating herself up about it ever since." I understood her entirely. If anybody _dared_ to hurt Mei…

"Well then Erica, do you mind showing me around?" I asked her. She giggled a little.

"I've gotta do a press shoot first, they wanna bag some shots of me and Trudy since we've got more than 200 kills." My eyes widened slightly at the revelation.

"Wow, you guys really are good aren't you," I said, slightly amazed.

"WOW!" yelled Erica suddenly. I grimaced slightly at her yell.

"Why are you yelling?" I asked, irked.

"Oh, sorry, it's just that for as long as you were here you never showed any emotion. It was kind of scary actually." I blinked slightly at what she said, realising the gravity of her words.

"Yeah, I usually put on that sort of front," I mused, "But maybe I don't need to anymore…"

"What do you mean?" I looked Erica in the eyes.

"Back when we were in my world, I always acted harshly towards others, just as they would towards my sister and myself. It became kind of a habit for me to be emotionless, even if something tore me up, just so my sister would always have someone to protect her." I looked down, all of a sudden feeling slightly guilty. "And I must have either irked or scared some of you guys because of that, I'm very sorry." I felt depressed, knowing that my outwards behaviour may have just caused trouble for both me and my sister.

"It's alright," Erica replied, "Everyone seems to understand that the two of you mean well." I smiled a little at this.

"Oh, shouldn't you be going to that press shoot?" I asked. Erica's eyes widened.

"Damn! I almost forgot, thanks Ryuu! Can you wait for me here, I shouldn't be too long." I nodded as she ran off. I chuckled a little.

"What a peculiar girl."

* * *

As I sat around in the briefing room waiting for Erica, a few people turned up. First of all, Eila was it? And Sanya?

"Hello Ryuu," said Sanya. I waved in response.

"Hey there!" yelled Eila.

"Hiya girls, what are you doing here?" I asked them.

"Just wanted to get to know you more, that's all," replied Eila. I suddenly got a thought.

"Hey Eila?"

"Hmmm?" I suddenly threw a small sandstorm at her, but took careful note of her reaction. Interesting. Before I even started, she'd already narrowed her eyes, and when I did, she instantly leapt out of the way.

"AHA!" I yelled. Eila looked at me _pissed_.

"Why'd you do that?!" she yelled at me. Sanya was also looking at me suspiciously. I pointed at Eila.

"I knew I felt something here! It was you!"

"Me?" she asked, still irked.

"Yeah, my familiar Terra told me there was a person here with foresight. I could feel something different about you so I decided to give you a little test," I gave her a thumbs up, "And you passed with flying colours!" Eila looked at me funny for a second, before smiling and then all-out giggling.

"You know, when I first saw you I was kind of scared of you, but you don't seem so bad," Eila responded, stopping her giggling. Sanya just looked at the both of us for a second, before falling asleep on Eila's shoulder, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

"Night patrol?" I asked. Eila nodded.

"Yup, the fact that she's even up right now is a miracle." I nodded back in response.

"You should probably take her back to bed then, having her walking around half-asleep is just an accident waiting to happen, and that'll probably lower her capabilities during the night patrol," I said in a serious voice.

"Yup, I'll go now," replied Eila. She walked off carrying Eila just as Erica rushed in.

"Heya Ryuu!" Erica cried out. I waved back.

"Yo, Erica!" I yelled back. She ran over to me as quickly as she could.

"Sorry about that, I got caught up in the shoot," she said, sheepishly rubbing her head. I stood up and walked over to her, then bonked her head slightly with my right fist.

"Try not to forget about me, 'kay?" I asked. She pouted slightly, whilst nodding her head, making me chuckle.

"'Kaaaayyy…" she replied.

"Good, can you show me around the base now then?" I asked her. She nodded furiously.

"Yeah! Let's go!" she yelled.

* * *

We started to walk around the base, first visiting the kitchen.

"First stop on our tour of the base-the kitchen!" Erica announced, in her best tour guide voice. I sniggered slightly at the sight, garnering a giggle from Erica in return. Once we had calmed down, I took a better look around the room. The kitchen was attached directly to the dining room, and both were of a relatively large size. The dining room contained a long table with many places on it, more than the amount of current residents. I looked at the kitchen again.

"I hope Mei will join in with the cooking whilst we're here," I said. "She'll never do anything else otherwise." Erica looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"And what's wrong with that?" I sighed.

"I just don't like it when she's overly lazy," I said in response. I looked over at Erica.

"What?"

"I get the feeling you're pretty lax outside of combat too?" I asked. She giggled in response, causing me to sigh. "Well, where to next?" I was promptly dragged out of the kitchen and out to the rooms.

"This is your room," Erica said, pointing to one of the doors. I nodded.

"Okay, who are my neighbours?" I asked. Erica grinned.

"Me and your sister, left and right accordingly!" she replied with energy. I chuckled slightly.

"So long as you don't mind me waking you up every now and again," I said to her. She gasped.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" she yelled dramatically. I plugged my ears until she finished.

"Okay, geez, you can have your sleep, I was only joking you know?" I told her irritably. She laughed nervously.

"Oh, okay then… hehe." What a girl… I was promptly dragged from the rooms out towards a closed door. I took a guess.

"Bath?" I asked. She blushed slightly, before turning around.

"Yeah, we're gonna have to check with Minna about rotating that, eheh…" I sighed.

"She's probably already got something sorted. Anyways, is there a firing range here?" I asked her.

"Yeah! I'll show you!" Grabbing my hand again, she dashed out of the building, dragging me behind her. She ran relatively fast, making me actually have to work this time and rounded a few tight corners, almost slamming me into the hedgerows. Eventually we came out to a _long_ firing range. I guess that makes sense considering the size of our weapons.

"Nice…"

"Tada! One extra-large firing range for extra-large weapons!" she said with vigour. I chuckled at her comment.

"Extra-large certainly does describe my weapon." Seriously, the GSh-30-1 is 1.978m long, 15.6cm wide and weighs 46 kg. It's big!

"Speaking of which, what is that weapon? I know you aren't from here, but still…" I sighed.

"You know Orussia?"

"Yeah?"

"In my world, they were the Soviet Union, and this gun comes from them. For aircraft of my time, it's actually a small weapon." She looked at me like I had just revealed the existence of ghosts and demons. Welp.

"No way…" I only nodded in response, causing her to turn away.

"Anything else Erica?" I asked.

"Eh, nope. Oh wait!" She once again dragged me by my hand, inside the base.

* * *

"Where are we going?!" I asked, as I was pulled up a flight of stairs. Seriously, not cool at all. I could make out a bright light at the top of the staircase.

"You'll see, heehee!" That doesn't give much away… Suddenly we popped out of the staircase and what I saw…

"Wow…" I looked out over the scene in front of me. The white cliffs of Dover in the distance, the rolling plains and grasslands of rural Britannia, dotted only by small hills. The glistening sea all around the island eventually gave way to a landmass to our South-East. Europe…

"This is the highest point on the base!" Erica announced proudly.

"This is certainly a view…" I said, still taking in the spectacle. I frowned as a thought entered my head.

"What is it Ryuu?"

"It's just," I pointed over to Europe, "It just occurred to me how much damage the Neuroi have done. And how many people depend on us," I said, melancholically. All of a sudden, I felt slightly depressed. Even if Mei and I were really strong, would we be able to combat the Neuroi? I felt a hand on my right shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. We do our best, and we won't be beat!" I felt myself be lifted by that answer. "Hey, you know what?" I turned to face Erica.

"Hmm?"

"Whilst the others are out training…" she pointed at my sister, Lynne and Yoshika, "Want to do a duel?" she asked, smirking. I gave her a grin in reply.

"Live ammo, first to pop their shield?" I asked. She nodded in confirmation.

"Let's go!" she finished, before running down the stairs. I chuckled as I leapt down the staircase as well, following her to the hangar. I jumped into my striker unit after discarding my shoes, before attaching the wingpack and grabbing my GSh-30-1 cannon. Erica was quicker, only having to grab her Kaiser's Buzzsaw (MG-42) and was already detached by the time I was ready. Which lead to a call from Minna being sent straight to my recently equipped helmet.

"_Ryuu, what are you and Erica doing?_" asked Minna. I could tell by her tone of voice she was annoyed. Oh boy.

"Just going out for a duel Minna, nothing to be concerned about," I replied.

"_Ooh, a duel? Can I watch?_" Looks like I've peaked someone's interest.

"_Yep!_" replied Erica. "_Okay Ryuu, we'll start 4km away from each other and at an altitude of 6,000m, okay?_"

"Mhmm." I mumbled incoherently into the radio to signal my acknowledgement. I flew to my designated position, waiting for confirmation that Erica had done the same. We decided to go above the channel, to avoid giving anyone a bad scare. As soon as Erica confirmed, Minna began to count down.

"_3! 2! 1! GO!_" I didn't need to be told twice. I immediately charged, opening up my throttle to max. But I didn't charge forwards. I went straight up, even engaging afterburners, which consisted of liquid ether injection into the jet stream to produce immense thrust, although it tired me greatly. My altitude skyrocketed, and I reached my goal of 10,000m in short order. Once up there, I looked back down, to see Erica desperately trying to catch up. Perfect. As she slowed down to a crawl, I flipped onto my back into a classic Split-S manoeuvre, getting down to her altitude in seconds and at a cool 1,000km/h. I brought my cannon up and aimed at her. But it wouldn't be that easy. Immediately, she pulled a prop-hang and forced me to overshoot, allowing her to aim her sights at me. Cursing, I immediately dropped into a downwards spiral, ending up below Erica, which would have been disastrous had she not just pulled a prop-hang like she had. This allowed me to pass safely underneath her as she slowly built back up her speed, and with an Immelmann I was once again directly on her six from higher altitude. Then she mixed it by launching herself into a tight loop, the small diameter of which again forced an overshoot from my speedy jet. Careful not to go past 1,100 km/h for fear of breaking the sound barrier, I did something only a striker could do, I redirected my legs down in a somersault motion, instantly killing my momentum. Within seconds I shot back up from under Erica, and almost had her. She then decided to use her magic.

"STURM!" And it was a kind which helped her manoeuvrability. Crap. She lurched out of my way and swung her gun around, making me do something I had only theorised. I swung my legs sideways, causing my body to rotate 180⁰ on the x-axis and turning me upside down. I passed harmlessly aside Erica's bullets, also leaving an unfortunate case of jawdrop-itis and grinned, bringing my gun to her and shot one round, which due to her lack of options, had to be stopped by shield. I flew over to her, grinning at my victory.

"How did you do that?" asked Erica, stunned. Minna was also there looking at me shocked.

"It wasn't too hard, I just shifted my body over to the right causing me to swing up in a ferris wheel motion," I replied honestly. I was kind of unnerved at the fact that they were looking at me as if I'd just revealed to them the existence of God, I mean, seriously?

"Also, what strikers are those? I've never seen them before," asked Minna.

"These are Shenyang J-31 Gyrfalcons, my sister's are the Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut, or Firkin. My land strikers are the Norinco Type 99s and my sister's are the Hyundai Rotem K2 Black Panther," I listed off. The two of them looked at me quizzically.

"Shenyang? Norinco? Hyundai Rotem? Are they weapon manufacturers?" asked Minna. I sighed at her question.

"Don't you remember? Future and all that?" I asked her. She slapped her head as she remembered, earning a giggle from Erica.

"Sorry, I forgot. Anyways, after that spectacular duel I reckon you're hungry?" asked Minna. Just on cue, both Erica and my stomachs growled softly, earning a giggle from Minna and a small blush from Erica. I rubbed my head sheepishly.

"Yeah, I guess. Let's go?"

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

Dinner was relatively uneventful. I heard from Mei that she, Lynne and Yoshika had been training with Mio (and that it had been harsh. Good!). Something looked off about Lynne, but I shrugged it off, Mei and Yoshika could probably sort it out. I departed for sleep alongside and before long, fell asleep quickly. That fight with Erica really took it out of me. I wonder what surprises await me tomorrow?


	3. Apology

Apology

I'm sorry but the next chapter most probably won't be for a while. I'm working on designing a way of working in both majoramiruddin's O.C.s (as per my original plan) and my own (change in plan inspired by my schoolwork). It shouldn't be a really long time, and I do apologize for the wait.


	4. Chapter 2-Making new friends

Chapter 2-Making new friends

**I feel like I most definitely need to apologize. I don't write, and therefore upload, on anything near a regular basis, I write when I feel like it and when I get ideas. However, that means I tend to spend a long time writing each chapter. Though the waits should be longer (at least until late April) because I'm just done with my GCSE mocks, so I'll endeavour to speed up my uploads, as much as I can at least.**

* * *

_Ryuu's P.O.V._

I woke up early the next morning, around half six. Immediately, I hopped out of bed and stretched out, readying myself for a morning of training. I pondered for a second waking up Mei, but it occurred to me that: a) She would be beat from training yesterday; and b) She wouldn't get up even if she wasn't tired. Sighing, I quickly brushed my teeth and dressed myself in my t-shirt, jeans and combat boots, and grabbed my niuweidao before heading out of the door. When I turned the corner, I suddenly had a few thoughts. This was a military base, and I suspected we'd probably recruited once the top brass got wind of me and Mei. And when would High Command want to see us? Questions with no answers I guess.

"Hey, Ryuu!" I turned around to see Major Sakamoto holding her katana, seemingly having the same idea as me.

"Hello Sakamoto, going out for some training?" I asked, earning a chuckle in response.

"Why yes, the sword isn't just for show after all." Taking her words in, I smirked.

"Want a challenge?" I asked her. She glared at me intensely.

"Whilst to anyone else I would say yes, what you and your sister were capable of yesterday was crazy. I'd have to be completely off my rocker to even suggest a spar against you." I huffed at her response.

"No fun are you… Well, never mind, want to train with me? I could help you learn some more advanced techniques," I replied. Mio's eyes literally gleamed at my offer.

"Of course! When do we start?" she eagerly replied. I thought for a second, before something occurred to me.

"Uhh, I'll have to come back to you on that. But I need to ask you a question first."

"Shoot."

"Is there a Lei Jie Rui in the human forces?" I asked. Mio pondered this for a second before responding.

"Yes, relatively recently Lei Jie Rui was promoted to Lieutenant General of the Song Empire, a country just west of Fuso on the mainland. No-one pays attention to it, even though it took a big hit from the Neuroi though…" I thought about that. Oh, poor China…

"Well, that answers a question. Want to know who he is?"

"Who?" I smiled fondly.

"My mentor, and the commander of the 12 dragons." Mio's brain took a few seconds to process this, and she suddenly ground to a halt where she stood.

"Whoa, whoa. There are _12_ of you! And you aren't even the strongest?!" I sighed at her response.

"1) Yes, there are 12 of us. 2) I am the strongest, he is the best commander." Mio took this in, then appeared to notice something.

"Will any more of you appear?" she asked.

"Maybe, though I can't promise anything." I decided to ask Terra.

_Got any news on that Terra?_

_Well, I can tell you that they're all coming, and at the same time. When-your guess is as good as mine._

_Well, that helps I guess. And the fact Sensei is here explains his disappearance a year ago._

_Doesn't it?_ As I ended my mental dialogue with Terra, I began walking again, prompting Mio to walk after me.

"No news on that front, other than they'll all come at once Mio," I told her.

"Mio? A little chummy don't you think?" she asked, clearly somewhat irritated.

"Oh lighten up. I'll call you Sakamoto if I become part of the armed forces. Speaking of which, do you know when the top brass will want to meet us?" I asked.

"Well, Generalleutnant Adolfine Galland and Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring are already here, along with that bastard Air Chief Marshall Trevor Maloney."

"A-grade bastard?"

"A* if ever there was one. You'll see. Anyways, when High Command last phoned-yesterday-they informed us the meeting would probably be in a couple of weeks, when: Air Chief Marshal Katherine V. Litvyak and her husband Field Marshal Dmitri Petrenko arrive from the Eastern front; Brigadier General Amiruddin Arif Bin Sulaiman and his wife Major Cecilia G. Miles arrive from North Africa and Lieutenant General Lei Jie Rui arrives from the Far-East." I whistled at the impressive list.

"Seems like our arrival shook things up."

"Understatement~. Also, I have a feeling your mentor probably knows about the other dragons coming, and probably tried to push a meeting for a close as possible to their arrival."

"True." We walked outside and before long we reached the beach.

"Want to train today?" Mio asked me.

"Yeah sure, why not? Tell you what, why don't we just do some light sparring, after all they do say practice makes perfect." Mio eyed me cautiously.

"I thought I said anyone of sane mind wouldn't fight with you?" I rolled my eyes at her response.

"I'm not fighting you or challenging you to a duel, so you don't have to worry about your health you know." Even if I was, I wouldn't maim or kill her just in a duel. I'm not some psychopath, geez…

"Okay then, what do you propose?" Mio asked, still eyeing me somewhat cautiously.

"Simple," I responded, "You have to land a hit on my body." Mio looked somewhat taken aback by my request.

"Are you sure?" she asked me.

"Certain." Looking at me as if I were insane, Mio took a sideways swing at my body. I promptly jumped over the swing. She swung at me again, this time I ducked under the swing. Getting frustrated at me, she began to swing at my body over and over, and yet each time I bounded out of the way.

"What the hell?!" She kept swinging, her hands a blur and the sword wooshing past me but try as she might, she couldn't land a hit. I sighed.

"Use your magic."

_It's magic eye, just so you know Ryuu._

_Thanks Terra, was just about to ask._

"It's bloody MAGIC EYE Ryuu, do you know what that does?" asked Mio, angrily.

"Of course," I replied, dodging her continued swings. "It's perception-class magic that allows the user to see clearer and farther and also see Neuroi cores, peculiarly enough. Unfortunately, it doesn't see through clouds for some reason."

"Exactly, so-"

"In its advanced stage, it can also detect magic flow, most forms of energy, a short distance into the future or through a distinct amount of anything, depending on the user's choice," I finished. Mio looked at me stunned.

"Advanced stage? What is that?" she asked, stopping her swings. I stood up straight and brushed myself down.

"Basically, all magic has at least two levels. Magic Eye just happens to have three-basic, advanced and master. Anyways, all magic has another level, but that's a story for another day. Anyways, basic level magic is accessible to anybody with magic and is usually quite weak and in-versatile, just like your Magic Eye's basic form. Now, advanced level magic is usually more versatile than basic level, but not always stronger. It also has one drawback, for magic with three levels, people who only learn the second level can only use it in one form at a time," I explained to her.

"So basically, my magic has two stronger levels?" she asked.

"Yup, and level 3 is _powerful_, especially for Magic Eye. Magic Eye turns to Eye of Ruination or Eye of Construction depending on the person, and it packs an awfully great punch," I began to explain. "Eye of Ruination allows you to decompose whatever you see on the atomic level, whereas Eye of Construction allows you to make temporary constructs of whatever." I suddenly realised that our original purpose had been lost whilst we were chatting out here, and that the sun was beginning to rise over the base.

"We should probably head back in now," commented Mio. I nodded in response.

"Yeah, before anybody gets worried or curious about where we are," I responded. The two of us walked back into the castle together as the sun rose above the horizon.

* * *

When we got back into the base, I got into my standard routine for the morning. After breakfast, I went out for another bout of magic training, intending to do some solo training. However, fate seemed to have other plans.

"Ryuu!" called out Erica, heading towards me. I sighed slightly, wondering how she managed to figure out where I was. I distinctly told no-one of where I was in an attempt to get some solo training done.

"Hey there Erica, what're you looking for?" I asked her. She gave me a sly grin.

"Magic practice." Oh no, you did not just ask _me_ to fight _you_.

'_Hey Ryuu._'

'_What is it Terrra?_'

'_Give it a try Ryuu, this might actually surprise you._' I put a finger on my chin, mulling the thought over. Which did not go unnoticed by Erica.

"Sooo~?" she asked, dragging it out.

"Deal," I replied, "Whenever you're ready." I assumed a combat stance as Erica assumed hers.

"Sturm!" Erica catapulted herself towards me, wreathed in roaring winds and moving at breakneck speed. I dodged to the side, drawing my blade as I did so. I blunted the blade heavily as I swung it, using the heavy weight of the tip of the blade (like a machete) to twist my body around as well. After I had completed a full revolution, I brought the blade crashing down on Erica. Or rather where she was.

"Goddamit! Sunaarashi!" I raised a raging sandstorm around me as a shield, pushing Erica back.

"You're pretty good Ryuu!" Erica darted upwards, legs still shrouded in the winds that once covered her entire body.

"You're not bad either Erica, but…" I decided to kick things up a notch. I engaged my level 2 abilities.

'_This is seriously overkill Ryuu._'

'_Hey, no pain no gain right?_' I heard Terra mentally facepalm as I grinned, feeling one of my magic dampeners deactivate. Immediately, a brown aura flared up around my feet and wrists, giving the impression of something like a blaziken. I opened my eyes to see Erica musing at my current form.

"So, what do you think?" I asked her, looking for her response.

"Looks like fun!" I was surprised by her response, wondering why she said that. Then she made it obvious.

"Oh hell…" As quickly as I had reached my second level, Erica decided that now would be a nice time to reveal hers. Instead of her aura flaring out of her wrists and feet, hers instead caused a grey-ish field to envelop her entire body, more fitting of an aura.

"Let's go! Groβer Sturm!" As soon as she had finished, she sprang forwards at me with her right hand balled up into a fist, intent obvious.

"Jishin!" I slammed my fist into hers, but she recoiled back whilst I stood firm due to the nature of my power.

"Heh, still pretty good!" Erica exclaimed. I grinned back at her.

"You haven't seen anything yet."

"Reaaaally? Show me!" I brought my blade up above my head, looking her directly in the eyes.

"Jishin-kai!" I leapt forwards with all my might, arcing my blade over my head. As I sought to bring it down on Erica, she did something completely unexpected.

"Sturm guard!" She raised both her arms in an X shape, creating a block with them. As my blade resonated and glowed a dull brown, her arms became wreathed in raging winds that whipped and snapped at my blade as it descended. As the two made contact, an enormous explosion engulfed the area we were sparring in, flattening it entirely.

'_Whoa._'

'_Told you she might be stronger than you think._' As I listened to Terra chide me about my overconfidence, someone else decided to join in.

"_Erica! What the hell was that, you said that you were going out for some light training!"_ As I looked over at Erica, she looked away from me sheepishly before responding to Minna through the transponders.

"Sorry Minna, I got a little carried away sparring with Ryuu."

"_A little?! And what do you mean by sparring?!_" I could practically hear her fuming on the other side of the line, so I attempted to put in a good word for Erica.

"Sorry about that Minna, the two of us just got carried away. But-"

"_If the two of you were training I have no qualms. Just let me know if you are planning to level an acre of British forest next time!_" I cringed at her voice before continuing.

"Erica is on another level, I'd like to know if there is anyone else about her standard on the base," I asked of Minna.

"_Well, apart from Erica… hmmm… I guess the only other real pros on base are myself and Captain Barkhorn. But…_" I understood her apprehension.

"She doesn't really seem to be a big fan of me, does she?" I asked.

"_No, she really doesn't. I suppose Erica has told you?_"

"Yes." Erica visibly grimaced when I mentioned that to Minna.

"_Okay then. Normally I'd make a ruckus about breach of privacy but I'll let it slide this time. Anyways, I want the two of you back in, Mio was looking to have Ryuu help train the girls._"

"Okay Minna."

"'Kay." After hearing our responses I heard a little crackle over the transponder, signalling Minna's tuning out. I turned to face Erica.

"Shall we?"

"We better, I think I ticked off Minna one too many times this week." I nodded in response, understanding what she meant. Whilst Minna doesn't _look_ like a harsh commander, I get the vibe that she knows just how to make people listen and follow.

* * *

After entering the base, I watched as Erica ran off to go and find Minna. Meanwhile, I waked over to the hangar, knowing that Mio was just done with running and would probably be moving over to sharpshooting, sparring or tactics. I got it right first time.

"Hey there Ryuu!" I waved back at her as my sister, Lynne and Yoshika turned around to see me.

"Onii-san!"

"Sato-kun!"

"Ryuu!" Three different responses from three different people. Interesting.

"So, I heard you wanted help with training the girls Mio?" I asked her. Mio waved me over to a rifle Lynne was prone next to.

"Here, a 14mm Boys AP rifle. There," she gestured to a target way down range, "A target."

"Let me guess. Hit it."

"Congratulations! Do you want a gold medal?" I chuckled a little at her response.

"No offense but I really didn't take you as a stickler for sarcasm Mio." She seemed to give me a look as I said that.

"I'd tell you not to call me Mio but what the hell. And even I can throw some sarcasm in once in a while." I shrugged before turning back to the rifle.

"Not my call." I lay down and picked it up, sighting up. "Perfect." Then I activated my magic. Not an awful lot, just a helping hand.

'_And I've been relegated to _helping hand_. Thanks._'

'_You're welcome._' I heard Terra groan before my familiar features popped out. One long, scaly, club-ended tail and two scaly ridges on my head later, and…

"Oh my God!" a surprised Yoshika. I grinned slightly, before I heard Mei's footsteps behind me, causing me to sweat.

'_Haha, gonna get yo ass whooped._'

'_Can it Terra, I already know that._' I gulped as I sighted the target up and steadied my aim with Terra's assistance.

_BOOM_!

The rifle jolted back into my shoulder, but I felt nothing more than a slight tap thanks to my enhancements.

'_And here it comes!_' Suddenly, my sister whipped out her pistol, a Browning 1911, and shot twice, bulls-eyeing the target once and then sending the second shot straight through the exact hole the first had gone through. I sighed as I stood up to see my sister giving me an evil smirk.

"Got you again bro!" she taunted. I groaned at how she acted.

"Yeah, yeah, we've already established that you're the markswoman, now can you stop showing me up. Unless you want me to do the same for you?" I asked her, my tone obviously irritated. Pretending to be scared, she ran around the back of Mio, causing Mio to facepalm at her childishness.

"Good grief, two picture perfect shots and there you go, tail between your legs, running to hide behind me to escape your brother like a child!" Mio sighed in disbelief before turning to me. She looked more than a little irritated.

"And you, could you please at least try to hide your irritation whilst you are here? I want to do some training rather than have to play peacemaker." She put a finger on her chin in thought. "Actually, the two of you go to Minna, I believe she might have readied a tactics and formations briefing for the two of you."

"Oh Sakamoto-san, can I-" Yoshika was quickly cut off by Mio's arm swinging down in front of her, blocking her.

"NO! You still have to do PT Yoshika, and you too Lynne. You guys need to be in tip top shape if a Neuroi attacks!" Sakamoto yelled at them. I watched them shrink a little in fear, poor girls…

"Well, we'll-be-taking-our-leave-bye-now!" rattled off my sister, dragging me by my arm. I stumbled a little, having my arm pulled like that.

"Wha-wait! You don't even know where you're going yet!" Mio yelled after us.

"We'll find out, don't worry!" my sister replied. Sighing at her eagerness, or maybe desperation to get away from Mio, I went with her, despairingly waving goodbye to Sakamoto, Yoshika and Lynette.

* * *

"So, you refused Major Sakamoto's help, dragged me into the base and went on a wild goose chase with me in a vicegrip only to turn up empty?" I crossed my arms and glared at my sister, causing her to shrink a bit.

"Well, eheh, you see, umm…"

"Go on?" I prompted.

"Sorry?" A tick mark appeared on my forehead as I felt my magic begin to run rampant, a small sandstorm forming around me.

"Eheheh… Oh…" Mei suddenly noticed the sandstorm getting slowly more intense, and thickening to the point where I was almost invisible inside.

"Oh, hi R-r-ryuu?" Erica walked in on me about to give Mei a 'little' pounding. I instantly dispelled the sandstorm to take a look at her, and her head was tilted 90ᵒ to the right, giving her the uncanny appearance of a curious owl.

"Hey there Erica," I sighed in response. "You wouldn't happen to know where Minna is, would you?" I asked her. She giggle slightly at the fact Mei was cowering in a little ball up against the wall, and the fact that my hands were now stuffed in my pockets.

"Yeah, I was on my way right now!" She then turned to my sister, giggling again. "You can stop you know." My sister suddenly uncurled herself, looking at me suspiciously.

"You know you have no reason to blame me for what I said right?" I asked her. She sighed in defeat.

"Yes onii-chan…" I patted her head, causing her to look up.

"Well, looks like Erica just saved your ass, could you lead us there please?" I asked Erica

"Sure thing Ryuu!" She skipped off happily, leaving me and Mei to follow after her. It didn't take us long to reach the briefing room. I facepalmed and Mei took it a step further, facefaulting.

"Well, it's not like this was obvious huh?" I groaned.

"Yeah, wow, can't believe we didn't think about the briefing room," responded Mei. Erica's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Wow, I'd expect Mei to go airheaded on us, but you too Ryuu?" teased Erica. I flared up at that.

"Hey, I didn't vicegrip someone and drag them around a military base without any knowledge on where I was going!" I countered. Her sly smile told me I wasn't getting out of this easily.

"But you did go rage mode on your sister when the location was kind of obvious~" she sang.

"Yeah bro-" I shut her up instantly with a glare.

"Well, looks like nearly everyone is here then." I whipped around to find Minna standing in the corridor, with Eila grinning in the background. "And you already know you can't surprise me Eila." She jumped slightly at Minna's response causing me to chuckle a little at her response.

"Your foresight can't tell you everything huh?" I joked. She simply stuck her tongue out at me in response.

"Okay then, settle down. We're here to do a tactics briefing with Mei and Ryuu. I already got a demonstration from Ryuu about how well he performs," she paused for a second, before turning to Mei. "But I haven't really seen you fight yet Mei."

"Oh! Does that mean I have to duel someone then?" she asked. Minna nodded in response.

"Yup, uhh…"

"I'll do it Minna," volunteered Eila. I raised an eyebrow at her decision.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, you can see the future right?" I asked her.

"Yeah, but doing something about it is completely different. The Neuroi and other people using tech from this era are easy enough to deal with but you guys are on a completely different level. It should be fine. Oh, and we'll be doing paint shell training, not any of that super risky live duelling I know Karslanders love," finished Eila.

"Fine by me but can we go already! I want to duel!" complained my sister. Grinning, Eila dragged her off.

"I'll give you a tactical analysis when we're back Minna!" Eila yelled back at us. Minna sighed in response before turning to me and Erica.

"How much do you already know?" she asked me. I put on a finger on my chin whilst thinking.

"Hmmm, 1944 means that… Ah! Two people in a rotte, two rottes in a schwarm and four schwarms in a gruppe, right?" I asked.

"Precisely! Anything else?" I proceeded to explain my knowledge of V-formations, wedges, echelons and other formations, along with aerial manoeuvre knowledge from some textbooks, like Immelmans, Split-Ss and Tailslides.

* * *

"Well, it does seem like you know a lot about aerial combat already so this shouldn't be hard. You and Mei are going to form a reserve rotte, kind of like an emergency element that flies separate from the main squadron," explained Minna.

"So if anything goes tits-up we can respond, right?" I asked.

"I'd prefer you not explain like that, but yes, in essence." I realised my mistake and instantly apologized, garnering an honest giggle from Minna.

"Wha-"

"No, no, it was just funny to see you scramble to correct yourself." I gaped at what she had said, earning another giggle from Erica and Minna.

"Well then…" Minna turned slightly serious again, though still smiling.

"No, the reason you guys are flying separately is not only your speed, but also advanced radar."

"OH! So staying ahead and above of the group…"

"Precisely, you can scout and relay information. Also, your missiles provide excellent long-range capabilities."

"Yeah, but there is a limit." I frowned slightly.

"Oh, do tell?" asked Minna.

"Whilst we can rebuild them with magic, it takes a good few minutes to do so, and it requires a bit of focus."

"So basically in battle they're one shot wonders unless it goes on for a long time." I nodded and Erica seemed to realise what I was hinting at.

"So we shouldn't use them unless necessary?" asked Erica.

"That's right. It could be a problem if it turns out we need them later on in a fight and don't have them," I clarified.

"That could indeed be a problem…" Minna contemplated it for a while. "Oh well, so since you and Mei have the advanced strikers you have, the plan for you guys is to be the vanguard of our formation, then once we've made contact with the enemy to slip to the back where Miyafuji and Lynne will most likely be."

"Lynne because she's a sniper, but Miyafuji?" I asked.

"She needs some more experience," clarified Erica. I nodded to show I understood.

"Ok then, makes sense. Other than that, what else?"

"We change formations on a regular basis, but usually Mio flies solo, doing her observation. Sanya's a night patroller, I think you know that by now. Other than that, everyone basically rotates around different roles," Minna finished. I nodded in agreement.

"Okay then, is that it?" I asked.

"Yep, you're free for the rest of the day now." I turned around and left the room promptly, pondering what to do with the rest of my day.

* * *

Turned out that was decided for me.

"Hey! Ryuu!" I heard the loud voice of a certain Liberion witch ring out from down the hallway. I turned around to see Shirley running towards me, her, ummm, how do I put it? Oh hell, her breasts bouncing like a kangaroo on a pogo stick.

"Well hello Captain Yeager, I see the Liberion Rockies are in motion?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. She looked questioningly at me for a moment, before grinning.

"Yup, you'd have to be deaf and blind to not notice these things!" she replied slyly. I was taken a little aback at her teasing reactions before smirking back.

"Well, well, looks like your used to this," I shot back at her. She giggled a little at our small back-and-forth.

"Touché," she responded. I shrugged a little before getting back to the point.

"So what did you want me for?" I asked her. She shuffled her feet nervously and looked down.

"Is there a way…? I could… have-a-go-in-your-striker!?" she nervously yelled out. I chuckled a little at the way she asked me. She looked at me curiously.

"Go right ahead! But do be warned, that thing'll suck up magic like a bitch, and the wingpack can take some getting used to," I cautioned her. She giggled and jumped like a little girl on Christmas Day.

"Sure thing! Thanks!" And as quick as that, she dashed off, leaving a small dust cloud in her wake. I chuckled to myself again. The antics of this unit are starting to rub off on me.

* * *

I ended up doing not much until dinner time. Did a bit of training, looked around the base, and chased Erica for half an hour for no apparent reason. Hmmm… seems like the atmosphere of this unit really is rubbing off on me. Anyways…

"Dinner time onii-chan!" came the yell from the corridor. I already knew of course because of a little voice inside of my head.

'_Oi you faggot, I'm not that small!_' Ok then, not so small voice in my head.

'_Speaking of which Terra, can't you manifest a physical body whilst I'm not using my powers?_' I asked her.

'_Yeah, I figured we'll give them a few days to get used to us being here before I do that. Familiars taking on physical form isn't exactly the norm around here, in case you haven't noticed._' I guess that's as good a point as any. I sprung off my bed before opening my door and walking down towards the dining room. I whistled a small tune whilst going down, and by the sounds of thing everyone was already in the dining hall.

'_If you want me to help, just ask. Geez._' I passively used my magic to see who was in there. Hmmm… no Eila or Sanya. Interesting…

"Hey there Ryuu! Dinner time right!" I whipped my head around to see Eila and, surprisingly, a fully awake Sanya.

"Hey there girls, fully awake are we Sanya?" I asked. She nodded gingerly at me.

"Yes, sorry about yesterday, I was a little out of it from everyone arriving." I waved her off with my hand.

"Don't worry about it, it wasn't your fault after all." Sanya smiled back at me, whilst Eila pouted. Eila walked away a little grumpily and opened the door to the dining hall, prompting the two of us to enter. I took my place at the table next to Mei and Erica and looked at the vast table of food out in front of us. All kinds of Japa-, sorry, Fusoan and Britannian cuisine laid out in front of us. Hmmm, this seems kind of extravagant for a military meal.

"Hey, Minna?" I called for her attention.

"Yes?"

"Why are we so well stocked and supplied?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, if you're talking about this base in general, we aren't very far off supply lines to the various allied ports near us. If you're talking about this unit," she gestured to this room, "Witch units tend to get the better end of the stick, because of our unique capabilities against the Neuroi." Hmm, I guess that makes sense.

"Ok then, not that I'm complaining of course! I could do this every day!" I commented, earning giggles and laughs from the table.

The rest of dinner progressed, for the most part, without incident. I was able to go to sleep without any trouble, and fell asleep before long, ready for what tomorrow might herald.


	5. Chapter 3-You're not alone

Chapter 3-You're not alone

**I'M BACK!  
**

**Yeah, seriously, I'm back in action. Goddamn GCSEs and music are scheming on me, I swear. Oh well, I finally took the time to look through my computer's files before starting my GCSEs when I suddenly discovered this and thought, 'crap!' I'd forgotten about this project entirely and I apologise for that. I'm gonna try and get back on track with my old schedule now that I've got so much more free time. **

_Colonel Amiruddin Arif:_ **Thanks for the tip! I'll make sure to try and remember that! And on your first point, I have plans for Cecilia (Mwahahahahaha!) so don't worry about that! Also, keep the chapters coming man! They're awesome!**

**Since I haven't said this yet: I DO NOT OWN STRIKE WITCHES. You would have thought that would have been obvious on a fanfiction webiste but, meh. Better safe than sorry. Also, I like being corrected, strange as it seems. So please, leave constrctive criticism (that will inevitably be 99% unconstructive) after you've finished reading! Please return your seats to the upright position and stow your tray tables, here we go!**

* * *

_Ryuu's P.O.V._

I woke up the next morning before first light, getting myself up and out of bed, ready for the day ahead. That rhymed… oh well. I put on my clothes quickly before heading out of the door and walking around the base for a little. I hadn't yet had a chance to explore and get to know the place for myself, so I took this quiet time as a chance for me to do so, walking around and familiarising myself with various routes. Especially the ones to the hangar and briefing room, that would most definitely come in handy, considering I didn't know them properly yet. I also passed by what I assumed to be Minna's office, the pantry (which I found through a pleasant surprise, an open door) and various other deserted rooms. I made a mental note of one of them in particular, it was pretty big and I figured we could do indoor sparring there, at least without magic. Other than that, nothing much, so I headed back out to the hangar, and kitted myself out with the Type 99 MBS unit (Main Battle Striker, duh!) and headed out to the firing range. I deliberated firing the 125mm HE-FRAG rounds to wake up the base, but then decided against it, explosions tend to draw unwanted attention. I settled for using the Type 85 .50 cal machinegun instead, so I readied myself up and pulled down on the trigger. The gun jolted back against my arm, but thanks to my magic-

'My _magic.'_ Terra's magic, the recoil was barely noticeable to me. I expended 100 hundred rounds before looking over my aim. Not bad. Improving.

"Up and at 'em early, don't you think Ryuu?" I turned around to see Mio looking at my practicing. More than that though, I think she was wondering about my striker unit. After all, from what I can tell our land strikers are very different from the other ones from this era.

"Yeah, can't get rusty now eh?" I commented.

"True, true," Mio answered. "But what is that striker unit you're using?" she asked.

"Oh this thing? It's the Norinco Type 99 MBS, equipped with a 125mm smoothbore cannon, complete with co-axial 7.62mm and a 12.7mm Type 85 hand-held HMG," I responded.

"125mm! Damn, that's a big cannon you've got there, I think only the Karslanders have guns that big right now," Mio commented. I chuckled a little at her response, causing her eyes to widen.

"Damn pervert!" she ran at me with her sword whilst I cackled like a madman.

"Gehehe, just try and hit me!" I said, doing all sorts of acrobatics to dodge her sword.

"Damnit! How are you so lithe in that damn juggernaut suit!?" Mio raged.

"This thing's got servo-motors in which help my agility, I'm actually more agile in this suit than without it!" I informed. I could see Mio's eyes twitch a bit when I said that.

"What the hell are servo-motors? And stop moving dammit!" she yelled at me. I smirked back at her whilst she kept swinging at me. "And why the hell are you being so damn cheeky now! When you arrived you scared the living hell out of everyone, me included!" Oh! Nice ammo Mio!

"Aww… was little Mio scared?" I couldn't resist the jab. She just had to go making it easier didn't she-oh crap!

"Hah!" Mio's blade just smashed into my chest with all the force of as shotgun slug. I gasped slightly at the force behind the strike, before toppling over backwards and landing on the ground, groaning. Note to self, don't get side-tracked when fighting Mio. "And aren't you younger than me anyways?" she asked.

"Depends *hah* how old *hah* are you *hah* anyways?" I asked, lying down on the floor. Seriously, she can swing hard!

"19, don't you know it's rude to ask a lady her age?" she replied, smirking.

"What lady?" I retorted. I groaned slightly before picking myself up. "And tone down the power on those strikes next time!" I complained. She just laughed at my response before looking back at me.

"Well, I guess I can let you off with that one." Still smirking dammit.

"I'll get you back for that eventually _major_."

"I'd like to see you try." We glared at each other for a couple of seconds before both of us burst out in laughter at each other.

"Oh wow, that was amazing! You looked like you were-" I was cut short by the incessant blaring of the base's alarm, signalling the proximity of a Neuroi. I cursed under my breath.

"Damn, we're under attack…" I gave her a look that practically blurted out _no shit_.

_She is a Major, isn't she_? asked Terra.

_I thought so, but with that comment… yeesh…_ I glared a little more at Mio.

"What?" she asked. I sighed.

"Nothing, nothing…" I dismissively waved off her question. "Let's just get moving into the briefing room shall we? Actually, scratch that, I'm gonna go start spooling up my engines. The damn things take ages to warm up for some reason. I'll have to take a look at them sometime…" I trail off, thinking. Mio just grinned and ran off.

"Just remember to turn on your comms!" she yelled back at me.

"Yes ma'am!" I yelled back, giving her a mock salute. I heard her… distinctive laugh echo out from the distance. "Crazy woman…" I muttered under my breath.

* * *

_Mei's P.O.V._

I know that bro told me to always head to the briefing room immediately after the alarm sounds, but this is more important.

"Lynette? Are you in there?" Yoshika asked. I felt terrible, Yoshika and I had managed to somehow make Lynette really angry last night.

"Please, please answer us if you are!" I beg through the door. It hadn't even been a week yet and I have already managed to make someone so distressed! She just ran away from us in tears when Yoshika and I were pondering what we could do to help. I feel so bad about pushing her when she's already so stressed about having to defend her homeland… and then three enemy contacts appeared on the radar…

"I'm terrible at magic, I'm always in trouble, I can't fly, and I won't use a gun…"

"I've never been in combat before without my brother, my magic is uncontrolled, I'm always so reliant on help, and I'm always in the way…"

"I don't even care about fighting the Neuroi…"

"All I wanted to do was help my brother…"

"All I wanted to do was to use my magic to help someone…"

"Even at the cost of myself…"

"Even if it's just one person…"

"Because…" Yoshika and I look each other in the eye before nodding.

"We want to protect people!" we say together. I hope that will get through to her.

"That's why I keep on trying…"

"That's why I fly the skies…"

"And that's why you should too… Lynette." We looked at each other one more time after having said our pieces, and left for the briefing room. I think bro's already left to dispatch the Neuroi… what a bother. Oh no, if I have to fight, he won't be there to help me! I begin to hyperventilate at the thought of having to fight without my brother at my side.

"What's wrong Mei? Is something the matter?" I turn to look at Yoshika, feeling absolutely petrified.

"This'll be the first time I go into battle without Ryuu! What do I do, what do I do…" I'm freaking out, I always mess up! What's going to happen now, will I get everyone hurt? I don't want that to happen! I carry on hyperventilating and panicking until I feel someone's hand on my shoulder.

"Please calm down Sakai!" Yoshika's voice snapped me out of my panic. I started to breathe slowly, before turning around to face Yoshika. I took a deep breath, organizing my thoughts. She's right, I have to calm down if I want to do anything useful here. Finally thinking straight again, I thought carefully about what I was going to say.

"Yoshika, are you okay with using a gun if you need to protect someone?" I asked. I was surprised at how well I seemed to carry the message, I sounded confident like my brother, but kind like Minna. Hmmm… Nice! She looked at me thoughtfully for a second, then I saw her face set in determination.

"Yes! I can!" she responded, without hesitation. I nodded, grinning the biggest shit-eating grin I could. What, I'm not _completely_ innocent, I'm 16!

'_Oh yes, brilliant, I've got that image in my head now_!' Oh, now Ignis decides to show up!

'_Too bad, so sad. Well, since I'm going into battle…'_ I heard Ignis sigh before she complied. She's stubborn, but dependable.

"Yikes!" Heh, sounds like Yoshika got spooked. I closed my eyes, feeling the magic running through my body. My transformation was kind of like my brothers, but different. First, instead of two scaly ridges, I grew a pair of long, gnarly horns. Also, my tail wasn't quite just a club, it instead ended in what looked like a thick two-pronged spear, like a two-pointed trident. Flames licked out from the back of my neck, my wrists and my ankles, as well as generally wreathing themselves around my tail and horns. I opened my eyes, the dark black of my iris and pupil suddenly flaring up, a flame dancing within them. I saw Yoshika looking at me slack-jawed. I grinned back at her.

"Should we go and see Minna now?" I asked. She just nodded in response.

Yoshika and I ran to the briefing room, Yoshika taking the lead.

'_Seriously, that chick can run_!' I rolled my eyes at Ignis' comment.

'_If you're not gonna help, seriously shut it. I can kind of understand why bro and Terra hate you so much_.'

'_Aww… you love me really.'_ Once again I rolled my eyes, not bothering to dignify her comment with a retort. Yoshika burst round the corner, opening the door to the room as she went. Eila was sitting there, along with Minna.

"I'll go too!" yelled Yoshika. I rounded the corner moments later.

"And I'll accompany her!" I finished. Minna looked the two of us over for a second before fixing us with a hard stare.

"It's much too soon for either of you to go out on a real combat mission," she replied. "Miyafuji, you don't want to handle a gun," she turned to me, "and Mei, from what I can tell you won't do well in combat without your brother." Yoshika was slightly peeved from this.

"I can shoot if it's to help someone!" she retorted.

"And I can do just fine without my brother, watch me!" I roared back. I stomped out of the room without a second thought to the hangar bay. Who does she think she is, judging me like that! I'll damn well show her. I hear her calling after me from the briefing room, but I ignore it, running to the hangar.

* * *

_Ryuu's P.O.V._

Hmmm… this doesn't look right.

"Mio," I call out. She looks up at me, as I fly topcover.

"What is it Ryuu?" she asks. I frown as I double check my radar, then look around at the sky.

"Something doesn't seem right, only one contact on a suicide run? The Neuroi can't be that cocky can they?" I asked her. She contemplates this for a moment, before nodding.

"Yes, something definitely does seem off here. Hartmann, Yeager, pick up altitude and remain there along with Ryuu!" she ordered.

"Kay!"

"Got it!" The two pulled up and pulled up on my flanks, whilst I initiated a tight turn to cut my speed. I finished my turn between the two girls, my Gyrfalcon's deafening roar drowning out the whine of Shirley's P-51 and Erica's Bf 109 G-6. I scanned the sky with my radar, trying to find where the remaining Neuroi might be hiding.

"They're really getting sneaky aren't they Shirley?" commented Erica, as she lounged about next to me. How the hell is she lying down on her back?

"Eh, they're picking up new tricks. 'Bout time they stopped just trying to swarm us," she responded. I rolled my eyes at that. Neuroi charges huh? Probably worked up until the Briti-eheh, Britannians got their radars working. Suddenly, my helmet HUD picked something up. Oh…

"CRAP!" I yelled out loud. I startled both Erica and Shirley, Shirley just winced slightly at my curse but Erica jumped and yelped as she fell over backwards (in mid-air no less) and dropped a bit of altitude. She quickly shot back up to meet us at 9,000m.

"What's wrong?" asked Erica.

"They're going for the base!" I shouted. "Mio, if you're done with whatever you're shooting at with Barkhorn, they're running for the base! Three of 'em!" I radioed Mio with the news.

"What?! Get back there quick, Perrine and Francesca, come on! We're going back!" I heard Mio yell on the comms. Well crap, I hate it when my intuition is right. At least we're close enough.

"Full speed girls, we've gotta make it back quick!" I yelled out at the two of them. I regulated my speed to 580kmh along with Erica and Shirley and we raced back towards base. I hope they're going to be fine…

* * *

_Mei's P.O.V._

ARGH! I'm still here warming up my engines like bro told me and I've been caught up to by the others.

"Mei!" I heard Yoshika and Lynne call out my name.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Hold on, we're coming too!" Yoshika responded. I heard a growl from the other launch units in the room as everyone else's striker units started up. I looked up to see Minna glaring at me for a moment, before her gaze softened.

"I understand you want to prove yourself Mei, but at least let us assist you too," she said. I looked at her for a minute, before nodding sheepishly.

"Okay then," I responded. "I'll probably have to launch after you guys though," I continued, "my missiles are almost finished forming." Everyone else in the room nodded.

"In that case, Miyafuji, Bishop, wait for Mei to finish her preparations," Minna ordered.

"Hai!"

"Yes ma'am!" Eila gave the two a thumbs up before the two launched off, leaving me alone with Yoshika and Lynette.

"Hey, I'm, uh… sorry for ditching you guys back there," I apologized. I was just realizing that what I did was kind of, well, childish I guess.

"It's okay Mei, we don't really mind," replied Yoshika. Lynette nodded to affirm her statement.

"Hehe, thanks guys, I'm a little hot-headed like that, I guess my familiar is a little like me then," I said, grateful.

"Wait, your familiar is conscious?" asked Lynette. I nodded in response.

"Yours isn't?" I asked. She shook her head at me.

"I've never heard of conscious familiars bef-" Lynette got cut off by something. I shook my head at the sudden revelation.

"Well either way, I've finished preparing, so we better get moving," I cut in. The other nodded at my response, before revving up their strikers. The whine of propeller driven aircraft was slowly eclipsed by the ever growing roar of my Berkut's turbofans. Both Lynette and Yoshika detached off first, before I launched off, my katana resting neatly on my back. Hmm… I wonder if Ryuu took his blade as well. I quickly unholstered the large GSh-30-1 from my back, checking it over before pulling up to my assigned combat altitude. 15,000m wasn't it? Something like that, I'll just stay at 14,000 for now then.

"_Are you in position Mei?_" asked Minna over the radio. I booted up the radar on my HUD before responding.

"I'm up here Minna, I've got three contacts on the radar," I replied. Wait… "Four actually, but one isn't Neuroi, too small."

"_What is it then?_" asked Eila. Hmmm, approximately 1.8m long… oh.

"_It's me! Don't you dare start firing missiles at me!_" yelled my brother's voice. Yup, just as I thought.

"_Hang on for a second, where are Shirley and Erica?_" asked Minna.

"_Had to leave them behind, they can't exactly reach 1,000kmh in level flight you know, ah crap, the trio've noticed me!_" The sound of Neuroi beams came roaring out of the headset as they opened up on my brother with everything they had. "_It's getting too hot here, I'm pulling back to their maximum range for now!_"

"_Okay Ryuu, Eila, come with me, we're going after it. The rest of you hold position, we don't want any accidents in case we all go up._" I was a little angry at the fact that Minna basically told me, Lynnette and Yoshika to sit back and watch. Though it does make sense, if any of the Neuroi somehow manage to break through, someone needs to act as a safety net. Well, multiple people considering there are three Neuroi. I watch the contrails from their engines disappear into the distance as they move to intercept the Neuroi. At the same time, my brother's radar signature closes in to the Neuroi fast from the rear.

"_It's going fast Minna, you're going to have to match speed with them._"

"_Ok Ryuu, we're dropping down now._" By now I couldn't see them, but I knew they would be dropping down low to where the Neuroi are.

"_Hey Mei, are you there?_" Yoshika's voice rang out over the radio.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"_Are you scared right now?_" I paused for a second to think about what Yoshika had just said. Am I scared? Well… I guess…

"Yeah, I am." No sense in hiding it I guess. I might be about to go into combat without my brother at my side, with two others who are in the same boat as me in combat experience. Not blaming Yoshika and Lynette of course, that would be hypocritical of me, but still.

"_Oh. We thought you might be fine cause you always seem so confident and all around the base. I mean, you even stormed out here to get up and fight the Neuroi._" I thought that over for a second. I guess, but…

"It's still my first time you guys. And it's not like I usually do big things without my brother as well. So I guess I'm in the same boat." The two of them giggled a little at my reply. I smiled hearing them. I guess I won't be alone here then, even when my brother is busy.

"_Heads up girls! The three of them just picked up a ton of speed and are heading your way._" I could feel not only myself, but also the other two on the other end of the radio freeze for a moment hearing Minna say that. I was further scared at the fact that _none_ of them had been taken out. Immediately, Lynette started firing her anti-tank rifle, but the bullets just ended up flying everywhere in the general direction of the three Neuroi, no hits. I frowned at this before I ended up diving down to where the Neuroi were.

"_It's no good, I can't hit them!_" I was beginning to shake a bit from the transonic speeds, and I was also struggling to keep my speed under control. I'm not supposed to break the sound barrier yet.

"_It's okay, it's just like training!_"

"_But I'm taking up so much energy just flying. I can't control my shots magically so I'm not as accurate!_" Ok, so that's why. Just hang tight…

"_Okay then, I'll just keep you up!_" Hey! That was my idea!

_Oooh, big deal._ Grrr…

_Shut it. Geez, you're such an ass at times…_

_Why thank you!_ Ok, focus! Ignore the stupid dragon!

"_Wha-! What are you doing?"_

"_Supporting you, now you can take a shot!"_ HOW AM I STILL SO HIGH UP! ARGH! Suddenly, I could make out Yoshika supporting Lynne down below. Nice! Now we should be able to do it.

"_You three, the Neuroi are heading your way. Neutralise it. And be careful. Don't get killed._" Hah… that's my brother… blunt as always.

"_Okay then, on Miyafuji, shoot on three."_ It seems as if Lynette has a plan. "_One, two, three!_" I saw a stream of yellow tracers race out of Yoshika's gun, heading straight towards one of the three Neuroi in the distance. They split apart like a fighter formation, one pulling up, one breaking right and the last diving to the left. The one that pulled up was instantly blasted open by a precise shot from Lynne, causing it to shriek and shatter just like any other. Meanwhile…

* * *

"_I can't hit the others!_" I panicked a bit when Lynne said that. Sure, I can get the one that broke right, but the one diving off to the left… it's too far gone…

"I've got the one that is staying level!" I yelled through the radio. "Someone please get the other!" I levelled out at the same altitude as Lynnette and Yoshika and shot right past at over 1000kmh. I drew out my GSh-30-1 and brought it up at the Neuroi. It didn't even register me.

"_Whoa!_" Looks like the two just spotted me. Heh. I squeezed the trigger and 30mm HEI-T rounds tore into the Neuroi, tearing it apart. Somewhere in that carnage the core was hit (unsurprisingly) and a shriek signalled the death of the Neuroi. No rest for the weary though…

"_The other one's made it to the base!_" That was what I was afraid of. I twisted over to see the Neuroi moving just above sea level and making a beeline for the base. I instantly began to dive down, but just as I did, I saw it begin to charge up.

"_It's going to fire!_"

"_Oh no it isn't! Shandián! _(Lightning)_"_ Eh? Suddenly, a giant flash of white lightning arced out from way off in the distance, striking the Neuroi and instantly making it shatter.

_Wait a second, doesn't Jie use that attack?_

_I think he does Ignis. But that means…_

* * *

_Ryuu's P.O.V._

Wait a second, shandián?

"Lei-sensei? Is that you?" I asked tentatively. I've already confirmed he's here but…

"Identify yourself! Who are you?" Well Minna certainly seems jittery.

"_Lieutenant General Lei Jie Rui of the Song Imperial Air Force, Wing Commander Minna."_ I watched as Minna's mouth dropped open in shock and Eila's widened in surprise. I could tell everyone else was stunned as well, since the comms instantly went dead. Meanwhile, I was a little nervous. Ok, very nervous. Lei-sensei disappeared about 3 years ago and no-one in my dimension saw hide nor hair of him for all that time. He was the one who taught our entire group of magi to use their abilities, even though he's barely older than me, he was the one who broke Matt out of that creepy experiment and he led the attack on a group of dark magi up in the Atlas Mountains. Yeah, a group of 12 kids launching a full on assault on an army of evil mages. Picture that one for a second. In all honesty, he hasn't changed much; short, jet black hair falling lightly over chocolate brown eyes and a small Fu Manchu looking very strange on his face. Yeah… don't know why he even has that. Anyways, he doesn't look like he's changed much, but at the same time he has a quite hardened look on his face, which he only wears when he's in combat. I guess that's to be expected, he has just fried a Neuroi inside out. He flew over to us so I could get a better view of his striker unit. Wow…

His striker was unmistakably based upon the prototype Mitsubishi F3 fighter aircraft, itself based upon the also prototype ATD-X. He was holding an M197 20mm three-barrelled rotary cannon, and mounted on the wingpack were 4 AAM-4 and 4 AAM-5 missiles. Unlike my sister and me, he didn't have a helmet, instead his HUD was displayed upon a simple visor. His leg units have sleek intakes heading up the legs and protruding just above the knee, but the really special bits were the thrusters. They all had three paddles vectoring the thrust like on the Rockwell X-31, meaning that he could pull sharp manoeuvres with ease. I must say, very nice. He finally reached us and Minna and Eila immediately snapped a salute off, seeing all the medals on his chest. I bowed when he arrived, remembering what he had done for all of us. He looked us all over twice before bursting out in laughter. I snapped my head up whilst Minna and Eila both raised an eyebrow.

"Bwahaha! You're all too stiff!" I mentally groaned at his actions whilst Minna and Eila both took on a bewildered stance and stared at him in amazement. It quickly became apparent to me that he wasn't either annoyed or disappointed, but instead was trying to get a rise out of one of us. I flew up to him before knocking him over the head lightly as he was doubled over in laughter.

"Grow up sensei, I don't think these two appreciate your jokes," I chided him as he slowly regained control of himself.

"Hey, who gave you permission to order me around Ryuu?" he countered back. I frowned slightly before pointing an accusing finger at him.

"You may be my sensei but someone needs to beat some sense into you every once in a while," I said to him. He waved his arms around comically whilst rebutting me.

"Oh noes! 'The Great Quake of Kagoshima' is berating me, whatever will I do?" I sighed in defeat at the antics of my 'teacher'. Sometimes, I just wonder how he's the teacher sometime. I looked up to see him don a serious face for a moment. I knew exactly why.

"No assaults or anomalies since the skirmish in the Atlas Mountains, everyone was safe and sound, apparently they're all heading over here to join us." Jie sighed in relief at the news running a hand through his black hair.

"Hǎo, hǎo, that's good to hear. So, I imagine you people want to return to base right? Well don't let me keep you waiting, let's go!" Jie beckoned the rest of the squadron back over to the base before flying off, leaving me there with Minna and Eila. I turned around to look at the two of the hovering there, stunned at the exchange they just saw. I sighed before looking past the two of them, seeing Lynne hugging both Mei and Yoshika half to death. I smiled at the sight before turning back to Minna.

"Well, you heard the man, shall we?" I asked her. She quickly regained her bearings before nodding to me.

"Everyone, we're heading back to base, we've got a…special guest with us." I smirked slightly at her way of describing Lei-sensei. A general who has a peculiar sense of humour. Yes, special indeed.

* * *

When we arrived back at base I saw Mei staring at Lei-sensei with wide eyes. I chuckled slightly before making my way over to her, patting her on the head. She responded by looking straight up at me.

"Onii-chan?" she asked. I smiled at her in response.

"You did well today Mei," I said warmly. She looked at me for a second before her face blossomed into a huge smile. She nodded quickly before speaking.

"Thanks bro! Can I go back to Lynne-chan and Yoshika-chan now?" she asked me. I raised an eyebrow at that. She never uses any kind of honorific unless she's incredibly excited or is feeling somewhat tense. And I can tell it isn't the other. I smiled again before nodding and gesturing towards the two of them my sister running off towards them. I smile whilst watching her before a hand lands on my shoulder.

"Guess she's found some friends here hey?" asked a voice from behind. I nodded.

"Yeah Lei-sensei, at least these people look like they will actually accept her."

"It's nice for her to be able to finally have some more friends, don't you think?" I smiled at that statement.

"Yeah, permanent ones at last." The thought of finally having somewhere permanent to do something useful sounded like a dream come true to me. Even if this world is at war, and even if isn't the most peaceful place to be, it's a place to be none the less. And with all of us here at this base, none of us will be alone.


End file.
